The game of lacrosse is generally considered to be the oldest team contact sport of North American origin. History suggests that lacrosse was played by various Indian tribes as early as the 15th century. The lacrosse stick or “crosse” generally comprises an elongate stick handle or shaft having a butt end and a forward end, with a head frame attached to the forward end. The typical head frame includes a throat portion or shank end portion to which the stick handle is affixed, two sidewalls extending from the throat portion, and a lip portion or transverse wall that is connected to the outer end of a single sidewall or both outer ends of two sidewalls. The head frame supports the flexible netting which defines a ball pocket, traditionally located in the midsection or mouth area of the head. The upper rim of the head frame defines an open mouth through which the lacrosse ball is received into and shot, passed or checked from the lacrosse stick.
During play, the lacrosse ball may be caught by the player in a number of ways, either by scooping a ground ball into the head, or catching a ball in mid-air. In scooping ground balls, the player has to crouch, bend or lean to a greater or lesser extent in order to successfully engage the nose element of the head frame of the stick with the ground and/or ball. During possession of the ball, the player will often spin the stick rapidly about its longitudinal axis to impart centrifugal force to the ball and to aid the player in “cradling” the ball within the pocket of the stick.
Athletes, including lacrosse players, utilize training devices to improve their performance. Weighted training devices are generally used during practice or warm up to strengthen and tone muscles, but in lacrosse, weighted training devices used to work the shoulder, arm, and hand muscles used by the athlete in playing the game—e.g., scooping, throwing, catching, checking—are highly desired.